Early a.m. radio blog from the doughnut shop. You have to hand it to NPR and the BBC. Biased they may be, but they are also superb reporting organizations.
This morning, about 4:00 a.m. Eastern time (an hour ago as I write), the BBC ran a long, uninterrupted interview with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. One delicious exchange occurred. After eliciting a highly satisfying put-down of the United States and George Bush from Chavez ("He has emotional problems. We need a new American President..."), the BBC interviewer found his next question blocked by an insistent statement from Chavez (from memory):
Chavez: I am friends with one U.S. representative.
BBC: Oh? Who...
Chavez: (Retired Senator Jesse) Helms.
BBC: (Spits coffee) But he...
Chavez: We have talked for hours.
The Beeb's man recovered and moved on quickly. The interview will surely be re-broadcast at least once today. It will be interesting to see if that bit remains.
